Working title: A present from a friend
by nuiki
Summary: The FTA's in Trenton just seem to dissapear, some of them turning up as bodies. Why do this always happen to Steph? A litle of both Babe and Cupcace
1. Chapter 1

_Anna & Lucas is mine, the rest belongs to JE. I make no money._

_Enjoy!_**  
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**Chapter 1**

What is that annoying sound disturbing my beauty-sleep? I tried to get it away with putting the pillow over my head but the annoying sound refused to stop.

"Allright, allright, I'm awake". I reached out a hand to turn my alarm off.

It was 9:30 in the morning, a little bit too early fore badass body hunter Stephanie Plum.

Well, I might not be quite as much as a badass that I would like to be, but I blame that on my genes.

I rolled out of my bed and walked into the bathroom for a shower.

After a little fight with my hair and putting on a lash of mascara I went back to the bedroom to get dressed.

I choose a pair of jeans and a Superman t-shirt, I was starting to feel really good today.

Searching my kitchen I realized that it was some seriously need fore a trip to the grocery store when all I got was some peanut biscuits. I served myself one and one to Rex, my roomy.

Just as you know, Rex is a hamster. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, but he's a really good listener, plus he doesn't judge me for eating biscuit as breakfast.

Ready to go, I put on a pair of sneakers, got my purse and my car-keys.

I headed towards the bond office in my dark blue Nissan Micra. I loved this car. It even had air-condition and a stereo.

Parking outside the office behind Lula's flaming red firebird, I carefully locked the car and went inside to see if there was any new FTA's since yesterday.

"Hello girlfriend!" Lula is a friend of mine, she used to be a ho, but now she is working with filing and helps me with my FTA's. Lula is a big, black woman who wears turquoise spandex several sizes to small and colours her hair twice a month. She was currently blond with red, hot highlights that matched her finger nails.

"Hallo", I greeted back turning towards Connie, who manages the paper work for Vincent Plum's Bail Bond Office. She is a little bit shorter than me, got bigger boobs, higher hair and weights a bit more.

"Do you have any new FTA's for me?"

"Yeah, we have some pretty good ones too. Margot McPhelliman is out on bail again." She gave me four files.

"What did she do now?"

"She claimed to do nothing, but she stole a bra and panties from Victoria's Secret. Usually she wouldn't get in much trouble because of that, but given her history they arrested her."

I knew Margot, not personally, but I had put her back into the system two times earlier in my career as a body hunter. She was a sweet girl, only twenty-two years old, but with a history that could amuse most people.

I put all the four files into my purse, and I notice the electricity in the room changing.

"Well, well, who would have thought that Superman and Batman finally were going to meet?" Lula and Connie was watching wit some amusement in their eyes on something behind my back.

I didn't exactly need to turn around to know that it was Ranger, my mentor and friend that had entered the room.

Ranger is Cuban-American, ex-ranger in the military, owner of the securety company Rangeman, and Vinnies best body hunter. He seem to be colour blind because he almost never wear anything but black. If that wasn't enough, he was super hot looking, and has that aura of mystery, energy and sensuality that every guy on the planet wants to have.

"Yo" he said whit his soft voice. "Anything new?"

"I have a guy with a $ 150.000 bail. And some ones at $ 90.000" Connie handled some files over to Ranger, and he turned around to face me. Looking at my t-shirt I saw a little smile in his eyes.

"Nice" was his only comment. Ranger's a man of few words.

"I'm feeling a bit super today, so I decided to show it off to the rest of the world", I answered with a blink.

Ranger gave me a small nod and he took off with his black Porsche Turbo, a real bat mobile fore sure.

"Wow, I just can't get over how hot that man is" Lula wiped her hand, like she was drawing away sweat from her forehead.

"What happened to Tank?" I asked her, referring to her boyfriend, Ranger's employee and best friend.

"Nothing, were doing just fine, but even if I'm sort of taken I'm allowed to think that Ranger's hot. It's not like I'm cheating on Tankie-boy."

Lula and Tank made up a sweet pair. Tank was a huge guy in every possible way, and seeing how he started to blush each time Lula called him Tankie-boy in front of others still made me smile.

"Time to go and get some work done" I declared. "Wanna come?" I said towards Lula.

"Hell, yeah. The filing was starting to bore me now. I feel like kicking some ass today".

I gave that an eye-roll, I almost never kick somebody's ass, I promise!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter ****2**

I stood together with Lula outside the house of Margot McPhelliman. It was a pretty house. Not exactly the house of my dreams, but it was definitely something I could have settled down with. It was painted dark red with yellow details around the windows. It wasn't too big, but not small either.

The house looked pretty empty from my stand of view, but I could be wrong. It wasn't the first time someone was hiding inside when we came to drag them away.

People seem to be a bit less stupid that I sometimes wanted them to be. At least when it comes to FTA's.

"You think we should ring the doorbell?" Lula asked.

"I guess that that would be a good idea". I lifted my finger and pushed the button hard.

It was a loud ring, but no sign of anybody inside. I looked at Lula before I pushed the button once again.

"It's not like I'm an expert or something, but I would say that there isn't anybody home". Lula might not be the best body hunter, but I think she was right about this one.

"You're probably right. We can be back later, I guess Margot is at work now anyway and that's why she's not here." I wasn't quite up to breaking into the house today. And since I'm not so good at B&E it was probably a better choice to wait until later.

"Yeah, we should probably get some lunch before we continues."

Lula looked really hungry, so I decided that it was a charity-lunch. No need to feel bad about charity, right?

We took off and went to buy some lunch at McDonalds that we could take back to the office where Connie was waiting.

After the lunch I waved goodbye to Lula and Connie and walked to my car. It was still to early to visit Margot's house again, so I decided to take a look at the other files.

The first one was a single-mother that had four children. According to her file Anna DeBree now lived with her parents. She had to jobs, and apparently an ass of an ex-husband. He had left her after fourteen years of marriage. Anna had lost her grip when he told her, and she had done some minor vandalism to his car and house.

I dialled the first number that was listed in the papers.

"Hello" a tiny voice answered. If I had to guess I would bet on that it was Anna's six years old daughter.

"Hi, is your mommy home?" I asked in a tone I thought was nice and friendly.

"My _mother_ is not home, she is at work." The girl putt some extra pressure on mother, I guess she's not to found of calling her mother mommy.

"Well, thanks anyway."

"It is _thank you_, not _thanks_. And you are welcome." Wow, this little girl sure was polite.

After a closer look into Anna's file I found that she had moved to the states at the age of thirteen with her parents. Seem like her British accent had infected her daughter too.

It only took me 30 seconds to locate where Anna probably was working right now. She took dayshifts at a grocery store just some blocks away from her house. On evenings and nights she worked at someplace called 24-7 Food. I had never heard about it before, so I had no idea what that would be.

"Well, it's time to act" I said to myself, turning my car towards the grocery store. The rent on my apartment wasn't paying itself, so I would have to bring in some FTA soon, or else I would have to move back in with my parents.

Of course I could move in with Morelli, the cop I have been on and off with almost as long as I can remember back in time. At least for some years now.

Joseph Morelli was my mother's greatest fear when I was a child and teenager, with good reason. Morelli was all trouble and he also took my virginity when I was sixteen. In more present time, my mother has changed her mind about him and is almost begging me to marry him. Who saw that coming?

I ended up that moving in with Morelli without an apartment on hold would be an unwise thing to do considering our experience on living together. It usually just last a few weeks, sometimes only a couple of days before I returned home.

It wasn't that I didn't like living with Morelli, or that I didn't love him. It was just that we would drive each other crazy and start yelling and have another big fight.

There were also some benefits living with Morelli. To be honest with you, the man is incredible hot. Every woman in New Jersey wanted to bee with him. He had a long reputation of his capability in the bed. And as inside information, everything you have heard is correct.

I parked outside the store and took another look at the picture of Anna DeBree before I went inside.

Once inside, I found out that I didn't had to worry about not finding Anna. She was the only soul in the shop except from a man that looked like he was one-hundred years old and belonged more on a grave yard rather than a grocery store.

Since I was feeling a bit thirsty I grabbed a bottle of mineral water before I went to Anna to pay.

She put up her very best smile when she saw that I was going to buy something.

"Hello" she greeted me with a clear, British accent.

"Hello, I'm Stephanie Plum. I'm working for Vincent Plum, and you skipped your court date. I'm here to help you reschedule." I answered, me too wearing my best smile.

I saw that she instantly froze, not like she was afraid, but more like she just forgot.

"I am so sorry, it is really busy with four children and two different jobs. I totally forgot about it. Let me just call Shirley first, she is on the next shift." I watched Anna with amusement in my face. I had never had an FTA that was so cooperative.

A minute later she was back, dressed and with her purse, ready to go.

"Shirley will be her within two minutes, she lives on the second floor."

She was right, exactly two minutes later a little, blond woman arrived and Anna took off with me. I called Connie and let her know we were on our way so that she could meet us on the police station. I really didn't want Anna to wait fore to long.

We parked outside the station and walked out half an hour later. The clock was now almost four and I thought it would be time to try Margot again.

_Please R&R! TBC...  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

For the second time this day I found myself outside Margot McPhelliman's house, but it still looked like no-one was home.

I signed and took of, Margot could wait till tomorrow.

The last two files was one man that was wanted for armed robbery. I think my eyes almost popped out when I read what he was armed with. Seriously, the man used a shoe with four-inch heels!

That sound fun, and honestly, how dangerous can you possible be when you rob someone with a shoe?

Some of my friends could probably kill with a shoe, but in the picture, Lucas Smith looked nice. He had curly, black hair, and big, brown eyes. He had a friendly smile on his face, and white teeth.

It was only a five minutes ride to his apartment, and since it looked like he had a home office, I was pretty sure he would be there.

I knocked on number 12 in the second floor in a huge apartment complex. It only took a few seconds before I heard someone walking towards the door.

"Hello you"! Lucas Smith opened the door and gave me a feeling that I was the one he had waited for the whole day.

I almost felt myself blush a little bit. Lucas was a bit taller than me, and average build. He was one of those guys you meet, and never really remember. Nice, but more like a brother than someone you went on a date with.

"Hi! I'm Stephanie Plum, you must be Lucas Smith?"

"Yes, that would be me. What do you want Mrs. Plum?" He took my hand and kissed it, like they do in films. If I didn't blush before, I totally did now.

"Well, ehh, you skipped your court date, and I'm here to help you get a new one."

"Oh, shit. I totally forgot that!"

"Yeah, it happens to a lot."

"If you could just wait for a minute, I have to change clothes before I can come with you. I should have let you in, but it's a mess. Do you mind waiting here?" He looked really sorry, like he was handing me to the lions or something like that.

"It's fine, I'll wait right here." Normally it was a bad sign when your FTA ask you to wait. It might be the Superman shirt, I felt like I had some magical powers, I might even give the dreams of flying another shoot today.

When Lucas returned, I must have looked pretty stupid, standing and smiling all alone.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Not anything in particular", I answered and gave him a smile too. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, can I ride shotgun with you? I never got my license you see." He gave me a grin, I guess that wasn't a thing he was to proud of.

"Sure, it's part of the service you know. I pick you up, and drive you home after we are finished." Geez, that did not come out the way I meant it.

Lucas just smiled, I guess he had seen the little shock in my eyes when I realized what I just said.

"Well, we better go, right?"

"Umh, yeah, let's do."

˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜

"Thank you so much for waiting at me. I was getting a bit nervous about asking a cop to drive me home." Lucas grinned.

"Anytime, just give me a call if you need a ride to your court date too." I was finding myself very relaxed around Lucas.

Some might call him a criminal, but I figured he was more like most of the FTA's they handled to me. Humans that did one mistake and tried to forget about it after, unfortunately missing their court date.

Vinnie has other cards to play when you have the real criminals, those who wouldn't think twice of beat you to death after raping you. Like Ranger.

"So, is this what you do for a living, or is it community-service?"

"It almost sad to say it, but after I quitted as a lingerie buyer for E.E. Martin, this is what keeps a roof over my head and food in my fridge." My life didn't sound that pathetic in my head I thought. I probably freak Lucas off by now I guessed, but I was proved wrong as he continued chatting with me.

"Do you like it?" The question was surprising. Mostly people just assume that I do it to annoy them.

"Well, yeah, I do. It can be scary sometimes. You see, I tend to be a stalker-magnet. And people once in a while take a shoot at me, but in between, I love it." I gave him a nervous smile, wondering how he would take it.

"That's what's important, right? To like what you do, live you life."

"Yeah. How about you, do you enjoy working home?"

"Believe it or not, it can be pretty boring from time to time. But between the down's I like it. I'm never been that guy to follow a set with rules, having to show up at work precise the same time every day, leaving eight hours later. Working home gives me the freedom I need…"

I turned towards him, waiting for him to continue.

"…besides, I work on a lap top, so it's easy just to take it with me, and I can go out of town when ever I feel like. You have to admit that modern technology has it ups too," he said with a blink. I laughed like I hadn't done fore a long time. Not only because of what he said, but mostly just to laugh.

It was one thing I had wanted to ask him the whole day, and no sounded like the perfect time.

"So, tell me. Why did you pick a four-inch shoe to use as a weapon?"

"What can I say? I wasn't thinking at all! You have to believe me when I say that it was a once in a life experience. I lost a bet, and the guys said I had to act like robbing a 7-11 with the shoe." I could see how embarrassing this was to him.

"I guess I just had an undiscovered acting talent, because next thing I knew I was standing between two police officers, cuffed and everything."

"Well, I sure hope you got nominated for an Oscar this year then" I gave him a blink. "I will sure stand in the front of the line to get your autograph."

The thought of a crown wanting his autograph brought a smile back in his face. I guess I'm not the only one who feels that my life is pathetic. But that was makes it fun, right?

We had arrived outside Lucas apartment, and I handled him my business-card witch he put in his wallet.

"Nice to hang out with you, maybe I see you around another time?"

"Well, as long as it's not because you is on my FTA list again."

"Yeah, I think I can manage to remember the date this time." I gave him a smile and put the car in gear.


End file.
